Service providers and device manufacturers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. Many device manufacturers have invited independent parties to develop software applications for the hardware platforms produced by those manufacturers; for example, to accelerate the number of applications that can be offered to users of the platform in a short time after the platform is introduced. Such applications often rely on backend services available over a communications network, such as mapping services, points of interest services, telephone number lookup services, exchange rate services, image processing services, facial recognition services, music identification services, among hundreds or even thousands of other backend services. These services typically are invoked using a particular application programming interface (API) accessed over the communication network through a particular messaging protocol. It can become very challenging for an application developer to identify the backend services appropriate for supporting the application.